Book excerpt: A COWBOY AND THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE Herman Vowell grew up on an Oregon homestead dreaming of being a cowboy. He was barely 21 when he became buckaroo boss of the Pitchfork Ranch, one of the biggest spreads in the West. He felt his life was complete and then he met Betty Torrens, a city girl from California. They fell in love and married during the darkest days of World War II. They settled on a sprawling ranch in the heart of the Devils Garden and worked together calving a thousand head of cows, putting up meadow hay with horse-drawn equipment, chasing wild mustangs. When tragedy, and the outside world, encroached on their remote ranch, they stood side by side and fought to retain their vanishing way of life. Rick Steber, one of the Wests most popular authors, tells Herman and Betty's story with words that will capture your heart with their tenderness. BUCKAROO HEART is a true western classic, a story of love so powerful and pure and strong, it is everlasting.